CEO SR Teachmeet

I am excited about doing a seven minute presentation at the Sydney Teachmeet that has been organised by the CEO Southern Region eLearning Adviser Simon Crook. I love the idea of teachers sharing what they are doing and am looking forward to the two and seven minute micro-presentations. I have already found some new people to follow on Twitter and the backchat on #ceoelearn and #ceotm I will be just as interesting as the presentations.

Teachmeets are 'unconferences' that began in Scotland in 1995 and have become a world wide phenomenon. There are no hard or fast rules but like anything need to have some organisation and thanks to @simoncrook, @jpilearn @artprintmedia and @pvlies, it was very well organised.

I will be presenting for seven minutes about using Game Based Learning to improve student use  of the Design Process in Information Software Technology (IST). The idea developed because I am not a tech-head, I don't believe I know more about technology than the average teacher; I can't know everything. The key to success however, is that I accept this and don't allow it to stop my students. My role as a teacher hasn't changed even though the tools have.


I saw Ian Jukes from 21st Century Fluency Project  present at the Technology in K-12 Education National Congress in Sydney and it reinforced for me that use of the design process is a vital aspect of being a digital citizen, what Ian Jukes calls the Fluencies.


But where I started however was earlier than this at an eLearning Coordinators meeting where Dean Groom presented a Keynote. He started me thinking that GBL didn't just have to be a one off or a small series of lessons like I had done previously (such as using the UN Free Rice in HSIE classes). Using Twitter I then came across an article about a school in New York that had initiated GBL to teach the process of game design and were seeing fantastic results in student engagement and achievement in all classes.


Again using Twitter I asked about online gaming platforms that could be used in class and from the responses decided upon using Gamestar Mechanic because:

• there is a free version (there is a paid version if you want or need more control over student accounts)
• no software to download
• works with the College Internet connection
• students' and my account could be linked
• opportunity for online discussion
• easy to use
• curriculum materials available

Term 4 2010 with Year 9 IST was the best experience I have had with a class in term 4. The students were engaged, they completed all the set work, even the 'theory' which was based on Games for Change and game design. There was a new atmosphere of respect for peers, they were playing each others' games and marvelling at and commenting on what was being achieved.


One of the better moments for me was having Year 5 students from local schools visiting for a 'Curriculum Sampler' day and 10 Year 9s volunteered to help. They ran the Year 5s through the design process and helped them make and play games. They were brilliant! Their success with the younger students is evidence that they themselves understand the Design Process and see its value in helping produce solutions.


This year has provided more evidence that the class are immersed in the Design Process rather than just paying lip service like before. We are using Google Sites to complete portfolios that document the Design Process and this is working really well, even with students that struggled last year. Student engagement in class and work ethic has also improved as has the quality of work that is being produced.


Game Based Learning is engaging and it produces results.

The video below is my presentation materials for the Teachmeet in Sydney on May 26 2011.

A Cloud in the Hand

While this blog started as a chronicle of my schools use of the cloud it has become obvious that this is too limited. It does the College and my colleagues as well as me an injustice. The cloud is really just a tool and for my reflections to be of any use to the brilliant teachers, support and admin staff I work with I have realised that I need to be a lot more broad.

Use of Google Apps has exploded at the College and I only need to look at the Sites Dashboard to see how many KLAs are making use if the technology. I am also extremely greatful that teachers who decide to make their Sites and Docs private are including me in their list...THANK YOU!
 

There are many staff at the College that have taken advantage of our employer's salary sacrifice scheme to purchase an iPad 2 and others that are using various self-owned mobile devices in the classrooom and for admin purposes. Hence my rethink that this blog is too narrow.

As part of my role as eLearning Coordinator at the College as well as my innate need to shout things from the roof top I have decided to also use the blog to spread the news about other mobile bits and pieces I find useful, including Apps. In keeping with this, my first post about mobile learning is targeted towards my colleagues who are searching for Apps to use at school.

I have three pieces of advice to get you started:

1. Use Twitter - there are some great people as well as hashtags (#) to follow. Checkout #slidetolearn, #mobilelearning, #IEAR, #EDAPP and #mlearning as a start and use this to also find people like @ShellTerrell, @ipodsibilities and @SNewco.

2. Frequent the site www.iear.org - an educational Apps review website. I have found many excellent resources here.

3. Use the Apps Store in iTunes - in the iTunes Store click on the Apps Store drop down menu and choose Education and browse.

 I can't wait 'till my iPad 2 arrives!

How the Cloud Came Rolling in

The development of the web has no doubt placed more technology and information directly in the hands of individuals.The barriers to technological innovation keep lowering, and individuals need to turn less often to professional IT groups to help them develop solutions. Research labs, individual faculty, and staff have access to comparatively powerful technology tools that enable them to innovate.
Goldstein (2009)

I have been using the Cloud without even knowing, but mainly socially. It is only since the beginning of this year that I have really seen the use for education, and its not that I don't use technology, I just didn't know how much was out there.

A colleague approached me near the end of 2009 to ask advice about using Google Docs with her Science class and I had to admit, as the 'go to' technology help person, I couldn't help. Two babies in the space of two years had taken me away from the web2 changes, lucky for me (and my classes) I don't like not knowing, or at the very least knowing about,  and so began to investigate. One thing led to another and my school is now running a Sydney CEO pilot school for using Google Apps.

Not everyone is on board yet and I'm a little bit ashamed to admit that I am using the model of 'lay the table and they will come', but then, at the start of 2010 I was a Year Coordinator and have only recently become eLearning Coordinator. While my colleagues have always trusted me with their technology questions, being the pusher of cloud computing was outside my area of responsibility and I didn't want to step on any toes.

It is now half way through the school year and we have 320 Google Apps users out of a possible 480 (or so) College members. Use of Google Apps by a few teachers has encouraged many others to be interested, want to know what it is all about and to get involved. In September we are having a Professional Development Day that is dedicated to using technology in education for differentiation. The first session will be an introduction to Google Apps and will present what it can be used for as well as showcase how some KLAs are already using cloud computing, especially for differentiating the teaching and learning experience.

The second part if the day will be much more exciting as staff will have the opportunity to be hands on with their exploration, use, and implementation of everything the cloud.

My own experience, I feel, is limited, but I am willing to explore...like the students in my classes.


References
Goldstein, P (2009), The Tower, the Cloud, and the IT leader and workforce, in Katz, R (ed) (2009), The Tower and the Cloud: Higher Education in the Age of Cloud Computing, Educause http://www.educause.edu/thetowerandthecloud 

Powell, J, Cloud computing – what is it and what does it mean for
education?
erevolution.jiscinvolve.org/wp/files/2009/07/clouds-johnpowell.pdf

Aiming for the Sky

At my 7-10 boys' school we have a pretty good relationship with technology. Teachers have had school provided laptops for the past 8 years and we now have a situation of 1-1 across all year groups. We also have a projector and sound system in every general and most specialist classrrooms, most of which are interactive.

The challenge, now that teachers are students are familiar and comfortable with technology, is how to use it for best effect to improve teaching and learning. We have decided to do away with printed textbooks and exercise books in most Key Learning Areas (KLAs), but what now are the best methods to check, edit and mark student work as a means of assessment for learning?

This is where cloud technology becomes a useful tool. I saw the below video on a page about cloud computing, and since I love the show it resonated.

Instead of keeping everything secret on our our individual hard drives or USBs and giving it out like gold or cracked pepper, working  and learning in the cloud allows for collaboration. Making peers and teachers collaborators or viewers of a file takes away the fear that many of us (teachers and students) have about handing in draft, unfinished, or not good enough products.

The College has been granted permission by Sydney CEO to be a pilot school for use of Google Apps and hence they will be one of the cloud technology tools we will be using. Many KLAs have hit the ground running which has increased the interest of other staff members in utilising the technology.

Stay tuned...